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Toddler crushed by 1.5 tonne roller driven by relative

A two-year-old boy has died after being crushed by a 1.5 tonne roller driven by a relative working on the driveway of his New Zealand home.

Emergency services were called to the suburb of Lucas Heights in Auckland at about 1.35pm local time on Saturday, a St John Ambulance spokesman said.

The boy was rushed to Starship Hospital with critical injuries where he died.

A relative of the boy was using a 1.5 tonne roller to compact loose shingle on the driveway, Constable Paul Hayward of Waitemata Serious Crash Unit said.

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The boy, who lived at the house, was struck by the roller as the driver reversed.

"The driver is a relative of the child and what I can say is that he's absolutely distraught," he said.

"It's too soon as this stage to say whether the driver will be charged and any decision on this will not be made for at least several weeks," Constable Hayward said.

Housing Minister Nick Smith told parliament last year that New Zealand had an appalling record of a child being hospitalised every fortnight and a child killed every 10 weeks as a result of being run over in a driveway.